No Matter What
by RedDead
Summary: The Kyuubi is sealed in Naruto in a different way. Skips around a bit, but basically, Naruto is more powerful from the Kyubbi's help. But will his power help him get Hinata or drive her away? Or will he still be an idiot and not see what's right there? AU
1. Cold

Konoha- Winter

The cold was worse than Naruto could have expected. A blizzard had come to settle on the city, and the seven year old was struggling to make his way to the Hokage's Tower. His apartment had no defense against a blizzard of this magnitude, so he sought help from the only person who would give it. Unfortunately, the Tower was at least a ten minute walk, and in this weather, he understood that ten minutes he was out was borrowed time.

He clutched his coat tighter than ever, but it was old and worn, and served him little good. As the strong winds pounded snow and ice into his face, the boy had lost his bearings, and panic was taking hold. He needed to get out of this weather and rest a little bit. Shapes were dark and foreign, building shrouded by haze, and lights tiny fireflies that disappeared all to quickly.

But by sheer luck, Naruto found his way to an alleyway and slumped his back against the wall, his breath coming in ragged gasps, and his lungs stinging as they expanded. With the roar of the wind deafening his ears and the snow nullifying anything farther than five feet away, the boy never noticed a large man in tattered clothes approach him and stand right in front of him.

Just as Naruto noticed his presence, the man picked him up and held him at eye level by the scruff of his collar. His breath reeked of alcohol. Naruto's frightened blue eyes met the cold black abyss of the other man's. Hatred he saw, yes, but also a tiny bit of fear, yet the child knew not what it was from. Without warning or speaking, the man threw Naruto into the opposite wall, where he crashed into the garbage cans.

Surely the noise would draw someones attention, Naruto reasoned. But with the blizzard's howling, that was unlikely. His only chance was to run. When he started off, running to the safety of the cloud of haze, however, the man grabbed him and threw him again into a wall. Before he could even stand, Naruto was straddled by the drunk, who proceeded to punch Naruto over and over. Blood stained the white snow, and his tears made it silver. Still the man didn't stop. Finally he stood, but just when Naruto thought he was spared, a heavy boot collided with his ribs. Pain. He screamed, and the drunk put his hand's to Naruto's throat. Weak as he was, Naruto struggled, kicking, biting and scratching at the man. The world swooned, everything going an unnatural black. Yet when Naruto had resigned himself to his fate, a yellow light broke through, pointing at the man. A far off voice yelled "Hey!", and the man was gone.

The light grew in brightness, and everything started to come into focus. Then the light was shined right into his eyes, and Naruto thanked what ever eternal beings where beyond the world. To his horror, though, the light turned away and left him in the alley.

_Leaving me to die, _Naruto understood.

For a while, Naruto was unable to move.

The cold became inviting and peaceful, not a biting force of fury.

The roar was a serenade of the angels, not a monster howling in fury as it grabbed at his warmth.

This was peaceful.

_Just a few minutes of sleep. I'll shut my eyes for a minute, then I'll go to the Hokage's. _

_Just a minutes rest..._ A smile, meek and small, spread across his face.

_Just a few minutes,_ he thought again as the blackness from before closed around him yet again.

_Just a few..._

The darkness took him, swallowing him up, dragging him down to a place he had seen many times before, but had never

gone. His body hung limp in a vast room of black, a small light like the one from before shining down on him. It was completely quiet.

_**Naruto.. Naruto.. **_

A woman's voice. It was sweet, but it wasn't coming from where he was. Somewhere different. But where? This place was vast, infinite even. Where?

_**Naruto...**_

It called to him again.

_**Wake up, Naruto... **_

_Just a few more minutes. _

_This place is peaceful. _

_I like it here._

_**No Naruto, you shouldn't't be here. **_

_**Wake up! **_

_**Wake up, Naruto! **_

_Why? So peaceful... _

_**Naruto, wake up, or you will die!**_

_**Wake up! **_

_**NARUTO!!! **_

_**NNAARRUUTTOO!!!!!!**_

The screams woke him up. He had to get to safety. Struggling to get up, he lurched at the best form of shelter he saw. Under a brick building, a small cave like hole, protected, though poorly, by wooden stakes. He slipped through, but his scarf caught on a wooden guard. With a final lurch, Naruto fell through, the scarf caught on the beam, flapping madly in the wind, a bizarre flag, the only sign to his presence.

In what he assumed to be the basement of the building, he landed on his back and rolled due to the uneven ground a few feet, coming to rest at a wooden shelf with several heavy floor rugs rolled up. Using the last of his energy, Naruto grabbed several of the rugs and urolled them, and placed them on the ground and then over himself, snuggled tightly against them, a lost to the blackness of sleep.

_**Well done, Naruto,**_ the voice crooned to him,_** well done.**_


	2. Realization

Light, brighter than Naruto remembered it ever being, shone through the hole. Several voice yelled out to each other.

"Here he is! We found him! Tell the Hokage we have him!"

A warm hand touched his neck, then his chest. His eyes were opened, and a face looked at him.

Blackness.

"He's barely breathing. I can hardley feel a pulse. Get him to the hospital, quickly, or he'll die!" A pair of strong arms picked

him up. A face not all that foreign stared back at him. A scar underneath his eyes.

Blackness.

A soft bed, an even brighter light. Voices, more and louder than before, pounded his ears. Then something cold was against his side and another near his heart.

Blackness like before, not the blackness of sleep, but the blacknes of emptyness. The same black, infinite world.

_**Naruto... Naruto...**_

He was lieing down, his back touching nothing. It was like he was floating in water.

_**Naruto! Live Naruto!**_

_But its so peaceful, like before. I just want to rest. _

_**You can't Naruto! You have to live! Live so that you can be Hokage! **_

_**Hokage... **_

_**Hokage... **_

_**Hokage... **_

_**Hokage...**_

The word made him open his eyes. Smething was in front of him, but he couldn't see, no matter how hard he strained his head. As if in response, his body jerked to what he assumed to be vertical and he stared at what he assumed to be the source of the voice.

A large grassy knoll had appeared out of nowhere, and a beautiful woman with black hair and a red kimono sat on a large rock covered in grass, twirling a red and pink umberella in between her fingers. She looked up at him and he fell onto the grass. Brushing himself off, he stood and walked over to her. "Who are you?" he asked.

_**"I don't have a name that you could say, Naruto. But you can call me Kyuubi."**_

"OK, so who are you?" he said this as he shuffled around her slightly, first to the right, then to the left.

_**"I'm..."**_ she sighed, _**"I'm the reason everyone hates you." **_He gasped a little, eyes open in shock. But reason took a hold of

him, and after he sat down next to her, he asked:

"What? But I've never even met you before! Why would everyone hate me if we've never even spoken before?!"

"_**To the people, Naruto, that doesn't matter. Humans are notorious for hating what they don't understand, even if they understand the reason or are told not to."**_

"What do you mean?"

_**"I may look human, but I'm not. Seven years ago, I was in your world, in the form of a gaint fox. While I look back on my actions with disgust, I cannot deny that it was fully my fault. As a monster fox, I had no emotions, no love or compassion, just a need, no, a love of destruction and death. I killed many people, until one brave man stood against me. He sacrificed his own life to seal me into a new born baby."**_ She looked at him with compassion and love. _**"You." **_

"What?.." Naruto realed.

_**"I realize this may be a shock to you, but eventually you would have to learn. After all, you can't go on living with a gaint monster in your stomach forever." **_

"So, I'm a.. monster? I'm really a monster? Just like all those people said I was?" He looked down at his hands as if they weren't his own. They trembled, until the woman's own hands slid into his.

_**"No, Naruto. You are not a monster. You a boy with a very special gift that can change the world."**_ He jerked back, and tumbled off the outcropping, starring at the woman.

"I'm a freak! Because of you!" She sighed again.

**"Obviously you are not ready to deal with this. You will wake up and not remember this, but I will come back when you need me. Good luck until then, Naruto."**

Light.


	3. Kitsune

Several years later

It was snowing in Konoha, but this snow was white and fluffy yet nice and firm.

_Perfect for a snowball fight!_ Naruto shouted in his own head.

_**OW! Kit, your shouts hurt my ears!**_

_Sorry. I didn't mean it. _He laughed to himself. Kitsune was always grouchy in the mornings. At school, the class filed into the room. Iruka sat behind the teacher's desk, looking over some papers. After everyone took their seats, he suffled them all together and straightened them out, rapping them against the desk.

"Class, I have you scores from the quiz yesterday," he annouced much to the dismay of Naruto and the indifference of most of the class. Iruka passed them all back their scores. Naruto took his with aprehention. Slowly, he turned the paper over. 71. Better than usual, but not that great. He groaned in frustration. Iruka said something about how if he would study harder, he could be top of the class.

_Yeah, right._ _I studied this chapter for an hour and got nothing._

_**Maybe you should try a different form of studying. This way is not working to well.**_

_Shut it. Your really good with this ninja stuff. Why don't you ever help me?_

_**Because you can't depend on me for everything, Naruto. You have to learn to stand as a Shinobi first.**_

_But your a part of me! You have no reason to not help me!_

_**Other than the ones I just listed?**_

Naruto resigned himself to grumbling. Arguing with his imagenary friend wouldn't do him any good.

"Naruto! Pay attention!" Iruka's voice peirced his thoughts. He blushed and turned his head away from the window, which he had no idea he had been looking out of.

"Sorry, Iruka-senei," he mumbled, "I'll do better next time."

"No, Naruto," he replied, "if your grades don't pick up, you'll have to stay behind a year." Naruto blushed. Why did Iruka have to mention his less than stellar preformance so often? Did he like humiliating him?

Usui, a kid in their class who had been held back many times laughed at Naruto. "What an idiot! No wonder everyone hates him!" He broke out into a pig-ish laughter. Naruto's face was red hot.

_**Yes, well, as I recall, Usui's father died because he tripped and fell on his kunai pack when he was grocery shopping. **_

"Hey, Usui, didn't your father die because he tripped and fell on his own kunai while grocery shopping? Seriously, THATS stupid. But at least the eggs didn't break," Naruto added nonchalantly. Heads turned. Eyes widened. Mouths gaped. Naruto had pushed a fine thread.

Usui's face went bright red, and a tear formed in his eyes. "Don't you talk about my father that way! He was a great man!"

"Yeah. Renown for his pioneering work in the field of oblivious suicide. Quick a remarkable man." Naruto smirked as Usui's anger became even more evident. Usui even began to jump at Naruto, but Iruka cut in. "That's enough! Detention! The both of you!" Usui and Naruto returned to their seats, begrudgingly.

The school day was over soon, but Naruto and Usui stayed put in their desks, Naruto with his arms folded and head down, deep in conversation with Kitsune, oblivious to Usui's occasional glares of hate.

_**You shouldn't have said that.**_

_You told me that. How was I _not_ supposed to use that little bit of information?_

_**But some of the things I tell you shouldn't be said. You aren't supposed to know them.**_

_But you never tell me anything so juicy as that!_

_**That doesn't make it right.**_

_He insulted me!_

_**And you won't be Hokage if you keep stooping to the level of every little ape who comes along and provokes you!**_

_Fine._

_----_

Detention was over, and Usui ran out of the room, nearly knocking Iruka down as he did so. Naruto, however, picked up his things and slung his bag over his shoulder, making his way to the door in a much sower manner.

"Just a minute, Naruto. I want to talk to you." Naruto cringed as Iruka called out to him. These kinds of talks never ended well.

"Naruto, just what do you think you were doing? Why would you say something like that?" Even as Naruto opened his mouth, Iruka cut him off. "Forget it. I already know. He insulted you, and you had to get even, right?" A nod in response. "Naruto, who told you that Usui's father died like that?"

"My imagenary friend, Kit--" He cut himself off, but it was too late to say "nothing" and hope to get out of there. The damage was done, and his pause had backed him up against the wall. He was running out of options to cover his butt. Actually, he didn' know of any option.

_Damn my big mouth. Kitsune, what should I do?_

_**Unless you plan on killing him, nothing.**_

_Thanks for the advice._

_**Your welcome. You'll just have to stay quiet and wait for him to make the first move. Don't worry, I'll help you.**_

_So now your going to help?!_

_**At least I am helping. Now listen to him.**_

"Imagenary friend? Aren't you a bit old for one?"

"Yeah, your right, I guess I am." He was about to add, "Okay, nice talking to you gotta go home and do housework!" but Kitsune cut him off. _**No kit! Don't act like your in a rush to get out. He'll just ask more questions!**_

"What's your friend's name?"

"Kitsune" _**NO! Don't say that!**_

_Whoops..._

Iruka was obviously taken aback, the suprise etched in his every feature.

"_Kitsune? Could it be... I'll have to talk to Lord Hokage. _You can go, Naruto." Naruto turned to the door, but just as he was

about to dissapear, he turned to Iruka.

"Iruka-senei?"

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Can you not tell anyone about Kitsune?"

"Why not?"

Naruto repeated what Kitsune told him.

With that, Naruto closed the door on Iruka, leaving him to his thoughts.

Iruka leaned against the desk, thinking for half an hour, repeating Naruto's words over and over in his head.

_**Because he's my only friend, and I don't want him to have to go.**_


	4. Conviction

**WOW! This is my fist fanfic to ever go up, and so far, all the feedback has been great. There are also a few things I want to mention. I do not own Naruto. He'd be more badass if I did.**

**Secondly, this is a NaruHina, but I plan on stretching it out, so you'll have to be patient with me. It does start, along with a few other pairings, a little bit latter in the fic, but I have to put in stuff or it won't make sense. This is also going to screw with the canon in some places, and skip over a lot too. Mostly, I'll have my way with the filler, but that doesn't matter, since you probably didn't watch the filler.**

"Echo! ('Echo, echo, echo..) Awesome!"- talk

_Echo! ('ECHO! Echo __echo..__) Awe..._- Naruto' thoughts (or lack therof). Thoughts with a one them are someone else's

_**How do I go to the bathroom in here?**_- Kyuubi

That Night...

Iruka sat on his bed, thinking hard about whether or not he should tell the Third. All logic told him to do so that very minute, but something held him back. The look in Naruto's eyes. He was telling the truth. This 'Kitsune' was his only friend. But if it was the Fox, then it certainley couldn't be trusted, no matter what. Iruka fell back on the bed. He would have to talk to Naruto tomorrow. Then he would go see the Third.

The next day, Iruka was walking down the streets on the way to the school, his hands interlocked behind his head. The choice he wasgoing to have to make latter this day would not be easy, and either choice could have great reprecutions. Both sides of the arguement had taken a strong foothold on his mind. Iruka rubbed his eyes; he didn't get any sleep last night. Suddenly, an orange blur slammed into Iruka, and he went down hard on his butt.

"Oof!"

"Sorry, Iruka-sensei! I didn't see you!" Naruto was standing above Iruka, scratching the back of his head and flashing a large grin. Before Iruka had time to ask Naruto anything about the previous day, the boy had run off. Iruka sat there on the ground dumbfouded, then got up and hurried to class.

----

The school day was tense. Everyone knew that since Usui was held back by detention, there would be a fight at the end of the day. And none of them wanted any part of it. Usui's fights generally ended badly for any person in the vicinity, even if they

were not involved.

Except one person.

----

As the final bell rang, the class filed out hurriedly. But to Naruto's annoyment, Iruka held him back again.

_What does he want this time? I thought what I said earlier would stop the questions._

_**I never said that. Just follow my lead this go around, and we'll be fine.**_

"Naruto, I wanted to ask you about your imagenary friend. Kitsune?"

"Yeah, what about him?"

"How long has he been your friend?"

Naruto thought about that for a few minutes. "I guess he's always been there."

"Does he talk to you?"

"Of course he talks to me. Not always when I want him to, and not what I want him to say, but he does talk to me."

"What do you mean, Naruto? What does he say?" This response had Iruka slightly nervous, but slightly more at ease.

"Well, like, even though he knows a lot of ninjutsu and all the answers to your quizzes, he never gives me the answers."

"Why not?"

"He says I need to become a great ninja on my own." Iruka smirked. Maybe the fox wasn't so bad.

_**Good job so far, kit. We'e on the home stretch now.**_

"Naruto, does Kitsune ever say anything bad? Does he ever ask you to hurt someone?"

"No, he's always telling me to be nice to people. He says that's the best way to make a friend." Iruka relaxed.

"Alright, Naruto, you can go."

Alone in the classroom, Iruka thought about his choice again, but this time he made up his mind quickly. As he watched

Naruto run off to the sopping center, he knew that with the Kyuubi's help (or lack therof) Naruto would become a great ninja. He went back to his desk to finish grading some papers. _'But maybe I should just tell the Hokage, and make sure he doesn't do anything against Naruto...' _Maybe the Hokage would understand.

----

As he was running to go buy more ramen, Naruto heard something; a whistling sound, like a _fwt fwt fwt fwt fwt fwt. _It was a sound he knew well. A shuriken was flying at him. He jumped out of the was just in time. Several blades imbeded themselves in the ground and the tree next to Naruto. In the moment it took him to get his bearings, blurs of motion surrounded him, taking the forms of several ninja. Naruto recognized them as Usui's family.

_So they brought the whole family, huh? Kitsune, any advice?  
_

_**Scream. Scream real loud.**_

_Why?  
_

_**Because if you try anything else, your screwed kid**_

"HELP!!"Naruto screamed out, but a foot caught his stomach at high velocity, and he went flying into the tree, cutting his left shouder on a shuriken. He made to grab it. _**NO! Don't give them more reasons to kill you!**_

_Then what should I do?_

_**Get to the trees! **_

Without hesitating, Naruto jumped onto a low branch, then jumped longways as several more shuriken narrowly missed his back. Now he was under the cover of the trees, so shuriken would be impractical, he knew. But he had to keep moving. If he got caught, it would be over. As he kept moving, he talked with Kitsune.

_**Try to get to the school. Iruka is the only one who can help you now.**_

_But they'll catch me if I go into the open!_

_**Then try to get his attention! He should still be in the room.**_

_Alright, now how do I do that? _He stopped and mused to himself. The pause in his movements caused the branch to shudder. Naruto barely dodged a kunai that came flying at him, but he wasn't so lucky with the blade in the shadow of the first kunai. It caught him in the left shoulder. He shouted again, and blood followed the trail his body made on its way to the ground. He shuddered as his body hit the ground.

_Got to get away! Damn it, this hurts! _

Somehow, he was able to stand up, but he doubled over as soon as he did. He couldn't think from all the pain. The sound of more flying shuriken, and several kunai imbedded themselves in his shoulders, side and legs. Then he was on all fours, gasping for breath.

He was vaugly aware of someone standing over him with a kunai, ready to kill him.

The world went black.

Akkou stood over Naruto, kunai in hand, rady to deliver the death blow. _'This is for my brother.'_ It didn't matter that he was about to kill someone, a child no less. This was about his brother getting justice.

As he raised the kunai, he grinned. He would be a hero to everyone. Then he brought the metal down with all the strength and speed he could muster.

Two hands stopped him. Naruto had grabbed onto his wrists at the last second, stopping the lethal blow.

Shocked, Akkou pressed down again, trying to stab Naruto in the neck. Even through the severe wounds, Naruto wouldn't give him any room.

With an ease un-natural to a boy his age, or even a Jounin that wounded, the boy flung Akkou into a tree several yards back.

Then Akkou noticed a strange chakura flowing from the boy. But unlike normal chakura, it billowed around Naruto's body with a mind of its own. Steam rose from the wounds, and they sealed over in seconds.

His body jerked, and slowly, Naruto's fingernails elongated into claws, and his ears became pointed. Now he stood on the balls of his feet, hunched over like some bizzare animal.

Slowly, Naruto looked up.

And Akkou screamed.

**Fourth chapter! I know its not as good as the first three (which probably weren't the best themselves...) but I hope you like them!**

**This being my first fic, I want to thank johnny o binome, GangstaJ, Pokannicknow, pbaxter and ArmorOfGeddon for marking my story. And special thanks to Sufwizard for making it a favorite. R&R plz!! Thanks to Pokanninknow and PaulRap Raptor for reviewing.**


	5. The Face Inside

Naruto's face was different. Very different.

The small, thin lines on his cheeks had become more prominate, both in size and color. His already slightly oversized canines had grow a centimeter or so. But the most notable chagne was his eyes. Instead of the vast ocean of blue, they were blood red, and the pupils were slits.

Akkou was scared.

He screamed at the top of his lungs, desperate for help. And he got it.

Seven of Usui's relatives burs through the brush taking a 'U' formation around Naruto, ready to attack. But when they saw what had happened to Naruto, they paused for a moment.

And that moment was all Naruto needed.

He ran at the one closest to him, a somewhat portly man to his left, then jumped. Using his momentum, he twisted his body until his right leg smashed into the man's head. He went limp as he started to fall, but Naruto grabbed his body, moving it into the path of several oncoming shuriken.

The jounin armor protected the man, but he was still wounded. Naruto deftly threw him to the side. His images blurred as he charged towards another ninja, this one more in the center of their formation.

This one he got with a right hook, sending him flying. Again Naruto grabbed the limp body, but this time he hurled it at the men behind him.

More shuriken flew towards him, but Naruto sidestepped them all easily, and snatched the last kunai in mid-air, hurling it back at the ninja farthest from him.

One ninja tried to stab him from behind with a kunai held in both hands, but Naruto grabbed his right arm, and caught him under the chin with a powerful right hook.

This time, Naruto let the man's body go flying, and it collided with a dull thunk on an especially large tree branch.

Half of the men were out of comission, but Naruto was just starting.

Moving away from taijutsu, a thin and tall ninja jumped back away from Naruto and started forming seals, ending with _Torri._

So it was a water attack.

The signs finished, the man inhaled as much as possible, then exhaled. A cannon of water blasted towards Naruto, and even though he was able to lunge out of the way, another pressurized column of water connected with his chest. He was lifted up and slamned into a tree. When it let up, he collapsed onto all fours.

He stood up, shakingly, hands on his knees; the man smirked to himself, and fired more water at Naruto.

Naruto's left arm flung towards the incoming water, and the red chakura that wrapped around his body extended like a whip, slashing through the water and striking the man, slamming him into a tree 25 yards back. The man didn't move.

Naruto followed with a swing from his right arm, and the chakura followed, colliding with two men unlucky enough to have aligned themselves from Naruto's viewpoint. There was a sickening squishing sound. One started hacking up blood.

The last man stumbled back, evidently desperate. The fox vessel smirked an animalistic smirk, then sprinted towards the man.

He tried to defend himself by throwing dozens of kunai, nut Naruto dodged most of them and by following his arms the red chakura deflected the rest of the blades.

The battle ended with Naruto's hand firmly grasped on the man's neck.

A scream broke the otherwise quiet aftermath.

----

Hinata had seen the whole fight, but was unable to move from her hiding spot, lest she alert Naruto's assalent's to her prescence.

When he transformed, she was horrified, but somehow she knew that this Naruto was not evil, though his looks suggested otherwise. In fact, it didn't even look like Naruto.

After he was cornered, however, she took the chance and ran to Iruka's classroom, where he would be grading papers. She burst through the door in an a-typical fashion for the shy girl.

"Iruka-sensei. Come quick! Naruto's in danger!" He jumped to attention.

"What?!"

"I'll explain on the way! Come on!" It was only until they were sprinting down the hallway that Hinata realized she was being very frontal, not shy and meek.

Not even she could have expected that Naruto could invoke such a change in her behavior.

"Hinata, what's going on?" They were at the doors to the playground and entrance.

"Usui's relatives attacked Naruto. They hurt him, but something happened to Naruto. He... he doesn't look human anymore."

_'Oh, fuckberries' _"Hinata, did Naruto...kill anyone."

She shook her head, and Iruka let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

_'Into the small forest of trees where we always play. We're almost there.' _Hinata thought. She just hope she wasn't too late...

_Naruto..._

----

Iruka landed in the clearing where Hinata had stopped only moments before.

Seven bodies were strewn across the patch of green, some moaning, some moving, others only breathing.

Naruto hunched over one man, apparently the last one standing. He had the man by the throat, and after a second of staring into the man's eyes, he threw him into a tree, where the man fell down and went limp.

Iruka stepped up and cleared his throat, and the boy wheeled around on him. The teacher was taken aback by the change in his pupil's features.

"Na-Naruto, just what do you think your doing?" Maybe he could stop this by scolding him. Or maybe he could be demon-fodder.

Naruto spoke in a voice that was his, but carried an inhuman tone to it. Hinata whimpered and got behind Iruka.

_**"They did what they thought was right to protect their honor. I did what I knew was right to protect my cub."**_

"So your Kitsune?"

_**"If that is what you wish to call me." **_The fox boy took a step towards the two. Hinata fainted, and fell back into a tree, hitting her head on the way down.

"Hinata!" Just as he turned to check on Hinata, Iruka realized what he was doing and turned back to the fox.

"What do you want with us? What do you want with Naruto?" The Kyuubi laughed a rough, barking laugh.

_**"There is nothing a human can give that I want. As for Naruto, I hope to help him be a great ninja. You've set him on that path, Iruka. You are a good teacher, and the only one to treat Naruto as a human. I give you my utmost thanks. Now I shall leave both of these two cubs in your care."**_

With that, Naruto became Naruto, and he stood in place for a moment.

"Iruka-sensei? Hinata?" he said wearily.

Then his blue eyes rolled up into the top of his head and he fell over.

**Well, this is great! Fifth chapter! I hope my fic is up to expectations, I'm not that good with fighting. As for ow this is going with the story, its hard t say. I don't know how it ends :P**

**Forgive spelling, its late**

**Read and review. Put up suggestions for the story, I'd love em. Unless they suck...**

**Thanks to Han-Ko for the review!**

**Thanks to Juggerknot780 and fmriver for favoriting my story!**

**Thanks to Draven 234 for favoriting me! I hope my other fics will be to your liking**

**Seriouly, I'm working through seven different fanfics right now (nearly all NaruHina)**

**Thanks again for the support!**


	6. Wake Up

Inside the hospital, Iruka and the Third Hokage stood by the door observing the two would be ninjas. Though they shared the room, Hinata's side was packed with visitors, from relatives to fellow students, all of them looking on with concern.

Naruto's side was empty save for his limp body resting in the bed. Even the chairs that were supposed to be next to the bed were moved to allow more of Hinata's visitors to sit. This gave the effect of the room being unbalanced, and Naruto's side seemed noticably colder than Hinata's.

The pair stood in silence for nearly two hours until a nurse came in. "Visiting hours are over. I'm going to have to ask you to leave." As the group filed out, both Iruka and Sarutobi noticed the seemingly uncaring, even disgusted looks from the Hyuga's faces.

The nurse turned to them, but the Hokage waved her off. Seeing as she didn't want to argue with the Third, she let them be. After everyone had left, Iruka closed the door, and the Hokage walked over to the girl.

Standing over her, he preformed several seals before touching her forehead, muttering "Release," as he did so.

Hinata's eyes instantly opened, and she sat up, no longer under the illusion of sleep. She rubbed her temple, then looked up. Seeing the Hokage right next to her, she gasped.

Talking with the softness and caring of a mother, the old man bent down and asked her: "Hinata, would you mind telling me what you saw?"

She stared off into space for a few moments, then said meekly, "I-I can't remember to-too much . Just ge-getting help after N-Naruto was ambushed."(_'Yes! Thank Kami for head trauma!' _Iruka screamed to himself) Her whole body stiffened. "Naruto. Is- is he okay?"

At this, the Hokage sighed. "We don't know yet, Hinata, but we'll tell you as soon as we do." He rubbed the top of her head, smiled what Iruka knew was a fake smile and told her to get some rest.

"O-Okay." Then she laid back down on the bed, turned over and closed her eyes. Both men waited for ten minutes before silently moving over towards Naruto.

Aside from several barely detectable scars that were quickly vanishing, there was no sign that Naruto had been injured. But from the looks of the scars, Iruka knew that without the fox, Naruto would have bled to death.

Iruka couldn't help smiling to himself. Naruto loked so peaceful, but his mouth was slightly open and drool was blotting the fabric of the pillows. Sarutobi stared at Naruto's form for several minutes. _'What's he looking for? Naruto doesn't look any different. But what if... Does he know what happened to Naruto?! But how could he tell?! What if he orders Naruto to be exiled or killed?! How could he...' _Iruka was loosing it inside his head, but when the door opened and the doctor came in, the activity pulled him back down to earth.

The doctor, a somewhat portly man with little hair save for his beard, which he was presently massaging, made his way over to Naruto, staring intently at a clipboard in his hands. He picked up the clipboard hanging from Naruto's bed and compared the two, sratching his beard as he loked back from one to the other.

Finally, he put them both down, covered his mouth with his palm and exhaled sowly, then he went back to stroking his beard.

"Well, doctor? What's happened to Naruto?" Iruka asked, practically shouting, unable to be patient any longer.

He felt Naruto was his responsibility since he was, apart from the Hokage, the main person to look after Naruto's well being. '_I should have been there. This wouldn't have happened if I had gotten there earlier! Damn it! I knew this was coming! Why didn't I do something!' _

"Iruka," the Hokage said, taking his pipe out of is mouth, "beating yourself up for this isn't going to help. The responsibility of Naruto's current condition is placed on Usui's relatives." Iruka didn't look convinced. "And them alone" he added sternly. "So doctor, what can you tell us?" he asked turning to the man.

"Well," he started, the stroking hand finally leaving his beard, "as far as we can tell, it seems like the boy used a vast amount of chakura in a very short period of time. Since, apparently, he was not used to this kind of energy, his body shut down immediatly after the flow of chakura ceased.

His body is trying to do what a ninja's body naturally does when they use too much chakura: rest up and strengthen so that, hopefully, next time that kind of energy is used, the body can cope. But again, given the amount of energy used, and the, uh... _foreign _nature of the chakura, all our tests say that he will never wake up from a recovery sleep of this magnitude. The energy differnce is just to great. I'm sorry." He turned and walked out, not really caring about the fate of the boy.

----

In her bed, Hinata heard what was the doctor told the two ninjas, and curled herself tightly into a fetal position. She grabbed the sheet and squeezed it tight, tears falling from her closed eyes, turning the whte sheets silver. When the door closed on them, she carefuly got out of bed and went over to Naruto. She smiled despite herself as she whiped the drool from his face, but it dropped when she looked back into the closed eyes.

_How can he be gone, just like that? And here I am, to cowardly to have helped him when he needed it. To cowardly to say to him three simple words. Now I'll never get that chance. _The girl broke down into a fit of tears, clutching her crushes' orange vest. Before she could do anything else, she fell asleep next to Naruto.

When Hinata woke up the next morning in her own bed. As she rubbed her eyes, the memory of what she had done last night came back. She let out an audible high-pitched squeek. _'Who moved me? Oh, no, that means someone knows I love Naruto!' _Somewhere in the shadows, someone chuckled.

Then the Third Hokage stepped out from the blackness. "Lord Hokage! You scared me!"

"I'm sorry, I was just waiting for you to wake up. The nurse says you can go home now." She looked over at Naruto and sighed.

"Um... Lord Hokage... di-did you...?" He smiled and took the pipe from his mouth.

"Yes, I did." Hinata's head dropped. "Don't worry," he said, "I won't tell anyone."

"Thank you, Lord Hokage."

He waved her off with his pipe. "Think nothing of it." Suddenly, Hinata realized how uncomfortable she was, and how red her face was.

Muttering another thanks to the leader of Konoha, she hurried out of the hospital.

----

After running home, Hinata succesfully avoided her father's questions and made her way to her room, where she collapsed on her bed. A maid knocked on the door, but Hinata said that she didn't want to talk to anyone. Thankfully, no-one did disturb her, and se fell into a nightmare ridden sleep.

_----_

_**Well that could have gone better.**_

_My ass hurts. What did you do?_

_**Saved your life.**_

_My ass still hurts._

_**Would you rather be dead?**_

_Your the one who hurt my ass_

_**And saved your life. Get over it/**_

_So what happened?_

_**I took over your body and saved you from your attackers. Then I talked to your teacher.**_

_You talked with Iruka-sensei?!_

_**OW. Yes, I did. I thanked him for having to put up with your crap.**_

_You know what? I'd rather wake up now._

_**Sleep first, or you'll end up blacking out once you start working**_

_Fine._

_asshole..._

_**What was that?**_

_Go to sleep!_

----

The next day, Hinata came to visit Naruto, some flowers she had picked out from a flower shop other than Ino's (she didn't need the pointless gossip) and laid them on the night-stand next to the bed. For the longest time she took in his peaceful face. She really expected him to wake up at any moment, but he just lay there, a puddle of fresh drool on the sheets.

_'How could he stay like this forever? This can't be...' _Tears rolled down her cheeks. _'But now I can give you the one thing I couldn't give you before'_

Hinata leaned in, then hesitated for a moment, the kissed Naruto on the forehead. Whne she came up, she was redder than she had ever been in her life.

She ran out so fast no-one knew why the door had opened.

----

Naruto sat up. _Hm, my forehead feels weird. It actually feels kinda nice. _His eyes fell upon the flowers. That was supprising. Someone cared enough about him to spend money on him.

He picked up the flowers and sniffed.

They smelled nice.

Taking them under his arm, he lept out the open window and jumped over buildings on his way to his home. Once there, he got a glass bowl and filled it with water, then placed it in the makeshift vase, then put them on a table in his small living room. Then he made his way to the ledge right outside the main window and jumped off.

**Another chapter done. I hope you like it! Judging from the subscriptions, I think some people like it. Well, here I go:**

**Thanks to taintedlegacy, demona013, Demon of Konoha, and PaulRap Raptor of putting my story on story alert**

**Thanks to taintedlegacy for also putting me on alert.**

**As always Read n' Review**

**I'm trying to crank out the last parts of the prolougish part of the fic, so the good stuff will start up soon, maybe the next 2-3 chapters**


	7. Ramen?

Running through the town of Konoha, Naruto easily dodged the bustling merchants and shoppers, but ran headlong into a pole.

He was out for fifteen minutes, and when he came around, his stomach greeted his conscienceness with a loud rumbling that got looks of offense from at least fifteen people.

"Heh. Guess I must be hungrier than I thought."

So he turned left and down the street, heading for Itachi's Eatery. It had just opened up, and he had heard some good things about it, but didn' pay any attention to anything past 'excellent ramen'.

And his weekly allowance from the Hokage had just come in, so he could get the "all-you-can-eat-buffet" and eat till he puked without starving for the rest of the week. "Alright! Itachi's Eatery, here I come!" he shouted to no-one in particular, but everyone in particular heard.

Avoiding the menacing glares to the best of his ability, he sprinted off to Itachi's, grinning as he thought about what the manager's face would look like after he ate all their food.

----

Wandering through the town of Konoha, Hinata knew she was not hiding her sorrow very well. A lot of people asked her during school what was wrong. She told them her cat died. Then they asked how. She said it fell off a tree. Everyone thought that Hinata's cat was a pathetic cat. Truth be told, she was both allergic to and hated cats. They never wanted anything except food. Dogs, however, wanted love, care, warmth, food and a whole list of things. And they reciprocated your love with their own.

They were also loyal, stubborn, loud and somewhat dim, but she loved those qualitites to. Maybe that's why she loved Naruto. He was really a big, non-fluffy dog.

When class started, they had a substitute for Iruka, who was supposedly given the day off. _'Maybe its because he's sad about Naruto, too.' _Hinata thought.

Se was so wrapped up in thought, she didn't notice that she was about to hit a wall. When she tried to move out of the way, she tripped over a garbage can, landing hard on her butt.

For a minute, her vision swooned.

That bump on her head mut have been worse than she thought.

Then there was a loud shout from a voice she least expected to hear. "Alright! Itachi's Eatery, here I come!"

Questioning the severity of her head wound, she looked up long enough to see an orange blur rush past. "Naruto?..." she whispered to herself.

Quickly she stood, hoping to chase down what she thought was Naruto, but then a familiar female voice called out her name. It was Ino.

"O, h-hello, Ino, h-how are you?"

"Hinata you just talked to me three minutes ago. You should know I'm fine."

"Oh," she replied as she felt her cheeks going red hot, "Um, well, I, um have to go..."

"Okay..." Ino could tell Hinata was hiding something, but she didn't know what, so she decided not to press the issue. "Well, I guess I'll see you around. Take care!" Ino waved then was gone.

Hoping she wasn't too late, Hinata rounded the corner, but any trace of Naruto was long since gone. _'What?... But I could have sworn I heard him. Maybe I should go lie down...'_

Then some inner Hinata, the Hinata who didn't stutter or faint around Naruto screamed: **NO! Go look for him. He said he was going to Itachi's Eatery! Go there!**

Hinata weakly mentally agreed and started down the street to Itachi's Eatery.

----

"NO! GET OUT! I REFUSE TO SERVE YOU!" The mop swung at Naruto, but he ducked just in time. Then the manager was swinging the mop at him again and again, forcing Naruto to hurry out of the eatery.

He dodged through the small crowd waiting to be taken to their tables, and the manager stopped swinging the mop, but still hurried after him. Barging through the door, Naruto hurried across the street and into an alley, the man still hot on his tail.

He stopped at a grouping of trash cans. _There's no reason not to..._

Quickly turning, he picked up a can and threw it at the man's feet. Unable to move in time, he tripped and fell forward with a satisfying thud. Grinning at his own comic genius, Naruto sprinted off.

----

When Hinata arrived at Itachi's Eatery, everyone inside looked like they had just been victims to one of Naruto's legendary pranks. Legendary as in the cost of repairs.

Twidling her fingers, she walked over to the man who she recognized as the manager and tapped him on the shoulder. "What?!" he yelled in her face. She didn't know what she flinched more at, the shouting in her face or the black and blue shade of his face.

"I-I-I was w-wondering wh-what happened here," she answered quietly, just above a whisper.

"What happened?! I'll tell you what happened! One of your little ninja wannabe friends just tried to eat my food!" he bellowed back. The hairs on the back of Hinata's neck prickled.

_'So Naruto was here. He's the only one they would refuse service to. That means I didn't imagen his voice. That means.._.' Her heart fluttered so much she thought she was going to have a heart attack. '_He's awake...'_

"Do you know where he went?"

"Does it look like I care!?!?" he bellowed back. Hinata shrank back and pushed her index fingers together, trying to muter some sort of apology, but the manager stomped off, leaving her to her thoughts. _'Now what do I do? I can't go to his home, that would probably scare him... Where would he be? He wanted ramen, so he must be going to...' _

With that she started running to Naruto's favorite ramen store.

**Whew! I've been really busy with school and finals coming up, so there may be a good week or so between chapters. Sorry this ones so short. I'm also working on a few oneshots and a whole book, so I kinda divided. Good news: Naruto and Hinata will go on an assassination mission! But all is not what it seems... :P Thanks for the support!**

**P.S : Can someone remind me what Naruto's favorite ramen shop is? And Itachi's Ramen just sounded good in my head**


	8. Sunset

Ayame couldn't help but smile. Naruto was in the process of finishing off his 7th bowl of ramen, this one currently above his head as the last bit of broth and the tiny noodles plopped into his mouth.

With any other person, Ayame would have been offended, but there was something about Naruto that made it far more difficult for her to get mad at him.

Zoning out for a minute she thought back to her first meeting with Naruto.

It was during lunch, and Naruto had painted over the Hokages' Mountain, and in the process of running for safety, had ended up on their street. He had jumped into the booth with the sole intent of hiding, but after smelling the ramen, ordered some. At first she had gone out back with her father, who was going to serve him, and she had tried to persuade him to kick Naruto out.

But Teuchi insisted that since Naruto had paid, he was going to serve him, and wouldn't listen to her.

After his 12th bowl, Naruto had become a welcome customer at Ichiraku's, and the two had gotten used to Naruto's lack of manners, becoming one of Naruto's first real friends.

Naruto placed the bowl on the stack of the first six, exhaled and smiled, then took something out of his pocket.

"Geez Gama-chan, you're not so skinny anymore!" he said. Ayame, not having fully heard and understood Naruto, turned on him, her wooden spoon held high at the ready, but then she realized that he was talking to his wallet. Indeed, the green frog was notably fatter than usual.

Naruto pulled out several bills and put them on the counter, thanking them then turned to go, and almost ran into Hinata. "YAH! Jeez, Hinata, you scared me!"

"Oh-h. I-I'm sorry, Na-Narut-to. I didn't mean-"

"It's okay Hinata. How are you doing?" The question caught her off-guard.

Twiddling her thumbs and looking away from him, she mumbled a quick "Fine", gulped, then asked how he was doing.

"Well, I don't remember much, but other than that… I guess I'm fine."

Unable to remain in his presence without turning any redder and risking another faint, Hinata turned to run away, but a warm hand softly clasped onto her shoulder.

"Wait, Hinata. Where are you running off to?" he asked her.

Nearly fainting, she mumbled something indistinct about home, to which Naruto happily said: "No problem! I'll walk you home!"

Maybe she was finally adjusting to Naruto's continued attention, because as he said those words, she didn't faint.

However, throughout the journey, Hinata kept tripping and stumbling, especially when Naruto asked her a question that involved more than just a one word answer, and when he looked her in the eye for extended periods of time.

Their conversation during the walk was awkward.

Of course Naruto did most of the talking, and quiet Hinata happily resigned herself to movements of the head, one word answers and a continuous smile.

At the gates of the Hyuuga mansion they both stopped. Hinata was glad; no matter how much she wanted to stay by Naruto, she would let him think her a klutz. How could he love her then?

After exchanging goodbyes, Hinata slipped into the compound, and as the gate began to close she leaned to her side just a bit to catch one last glimpse of Naruto. She squeaked when she realized that he was looking right at her, waving goodbye, that beautiful smirk on his face.

She kept watching him as he turned around, waved one last time, then stuck his hand in his pocket and walked off into the sunset.

Hinata collapsed against the gate. He had walked off into the sunset, but he'd looked back. No-one had ever done that before.


	9. Writers Note

A note to my beloved readers:

I am truly sorry about my delayed updates! The way I write is by multiple chapters at one upload, and I will do my best to get the next three chapters of "No Matter What" and "We Are Legends" up by this Saturday. I've just been swamped with homework but I was able to write out the next two chapters of No Matter What this weekend. If all goes well you'll see four chapters up by Friday. I do wish to thank everyone who has reviewed my work and who favorited/ alerted me or my stories. You have no idea how great your encouragement is. As for the stories:

No Matter What is going to be a kind of drama/ tension/ arguement with Naruto and the Fox, and it is really complex. I'm also working Hinata into helping Naruto.

Now we start pushing into the Haku arc!

We Are Legends is going to be the main character coping with the strains of having to survive. A major thanks is owed to my best friend Reed from Warren (?), Vermont. He is the genius who is writing the whole story. I'm just putting it out there. He's been amazed at the feedback. Keep encouraging him! He wants to know that people really value his work (uber shy).

Also, if you read No Matter What, then read We Are Legends, and vice versa. And read Raining, too. I'm not too sure about revising it. Tell me if you do.

Any help spreading my work and Reed's would be wonderful! I would be forever in the debt of whoever coud get more readers. My goal is to make people happy!

Hugs and kisses! Amy

(Reed sends a smirk)


	10. Inner Battle

Atop the Hokage's Mountain, Naruto lay on a grassy knoll, hands cushioning his head. He looked at the clouds floating above, but didn't really care. There were more important things to think about.

A warm presence touched him, a presence he knew well.

_**I am truly sorry for that, kit. I am.**_

Naruto rolled over, knowing it was useless. No amount of rolling over could stop the voice.

_**Kit… Please speak to me. I am so sorry. **_The touch of it's presence increased until it seemed like it had filled up the whole of his back.

_**Please kit, just speak to me. **_It pleaded with him just like it had the entire journey, just like it had as soon as the nightmare had stopped.

_Nightmare. Pff! That was no nightmare. Nightmares you wake up from. Nightmares… they aren't real. That was no nightmare. That was something worse._ It's presence had increased, and Naruto hadn't fortified his thoughts. It heard him.

_**Naruto!**_ It was shouting, or the equivalent of, at his mind. _**Damn it, Naruto! I refuse to play this game any longer! Now speak to me!**_

Enough was enough.

_GAME?! This is no game! What the hell was that? What the hell did I do? WHAT THE HELL AM I?!?!_

_**Even I don't fully know Naruto. Now please just listen-**_

_Listen?! Like hell I will! What the hell was that, 'cause I sure as hell have no idea?! But I do know that whatever I became wasn't me! It wasn't even human! Don't you get it? I nearly killed someone and I could only watch as you did that with MY body!!_

_**NARUTO! Listen to me for one minute! **_It's presence flared like a fire, and Naruto's thoughts caught in his head. _**I don't fully understand it- **__Oh, that's just freaking great!- __**But I do know that your mortal peril pushed me to action. That seal was strained unlike before. Your body wanted to take more of my power, but your mind didn't want to be engulfed with it. I got pushed in during your battle with yourself, and when I was forced into your body during that fight, I was driven mad by the confines. **_

_And what's that supposed to mean?_

_**Basically, when the seal was strained over those unique circumstances, we both temporarily lost our sanity. But now that we are back to normal and we have solved the problem, that form of augmentation can be reached without the side effects from before.**_

_So what? I'm not going to let that happen ever again!_

_**Naruto, that incident saved your life!**_

_And if Kakashi-sensei hadn't stopped me, I could have killed him!_

_**He was trying to kill you!**_

_He was blinded by devotion!_

_**And that sort of blindness leads men to fight without concern for their own lives, and they become an even greater danger. Especially with his kekke- genkai. If that hadn't happened you would be dead, and so would Sasuke!**_

_And if Kakashi hadn't intervened, everyone could be dead!_

_**Naruto, this kind of stuff can happen on a mission. You must be ready to accept that, or you will never be a ninja, or Hokage for that matter.**_

_But- He didn't deserve to die!_

_**He sacrificed his life! That choice was his, not yours, and your going to have to live with the fact that he wanted to die!**_

_But that doesn't seem right! Why would you die for someone like him?!_

_**He didn't have any other reason to live. At least now he can rest in peace!**_

_He died in vain!_

_**He gained his freedom by his death. That act of suicide was the will for him to escape his prison, to make his own choice!**_

_Then if it's so logical to you,why doesn't it make sense to me?_

_**It will, in time. After you grow. But for now, you should train. Forget the boy. He is happy.**_

_How can you be sure?_

_**I have encountered many men like him in my time. It was best that it ended like this.**_

_But why?!?!_

_**His life was hollow until that monster gave it meaning. He was going to defend it with his life. And he did. And that sacrifice made that monster see what he had done with human eyes; also, I must add that rousing speech you gave.**_

_I feel like an idiot everytime I think about it. I must have sounded so stupid!_

_**You did. But you moved Kakashi and Sakura and Sasuke and all the others. Even those villagers. You have quite a way with words. Unfortunatly, you seem to have no control over when your silver tounge can move mountains or make others want to crash the mountain down on your hard little head.**_

_Hehe_and without even thinking, Naruto rubbed his bright yellow scalp, and then, with his trademark smile, collapsed again onto the grassy knoll, staring up at the clouds.

"Glad to see your back to your normal self. However troubling that may be." Shikamaru walked up from behind Naruto and sat down next to him. He stared intently at the grass for a moment, then reached out and picked a long weed stalk, twirled it for a moment between his thumb and first finger, then, apparently satisfied, put it in his mouth and caught the stem with his teeth.

"Shikamaru? What do you want?"

"I come up here to stare at the clouds when my parents are being to troublesome. What are you doing here?"

"Nothing. I was just thinking."

"About that kid?"

"Yeah. I guess."

"Well, don't beat yourself up about it. Kakashi told Asuma you were fantastic on the mission."

Naruto's smile nearly ripped his cheeks. "REALLY?!"

"Yeah. Sure. Just don't quote me on that, okay?" But Naruto's star-lit eyes and small traces of drool left douts as to whether or not he had heard Shikamaru. In truth, Kakasi had walked into Asuma's meeting area for his squad. Ino was shopping and Chouji was eating out at, and eating out, B-B-Q House, so it was empty except for Asuma and Shikamaru. While the leader enjoyed a smoke, Shikamare feigned sleep. Through that, Shikamaru heard that Naruto had nearly killed two very powerful ninjas in a matter of seconds.

He nearly fell off the couch.

But then Kakashi had pulled Asuma outside, and Shikamaru couldn't follow them.

_'So, Naruto... are you really the loser who everyone thinks you are?'_

"Well, I'll see you around, Naruto. And whatever happened out there, we're here for you. You'll get over it someday." He slapped him on the shoulder, then got up and walked away. "You sure your going to be okay?" he called out to Naruto.

"Yeah," Naruto turned his head and called back. Then he looked back down upon the village and said to himself, "I have a feeling things are going to be great."

He stood and prepared to jump down back into the townof Konoha, but stopped and looked up at the sky.

_Haku... I won't forget you._

Then he jumped.

**I am VERY sorry about this. My mom broke her leg, so I was distracted over the course of Friday onwards. I couldn't get any work done, so I have to just go with what I already had done.**

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Please?**

**The next update will be better, I promise. And hopefully that will be Monday. Sorry for disappointing yall! I hope you forgive me with my following updates!! **


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